Mailing tube



Jn. 28, 1930,. E, J. SCHQETTLE v 1,745,341

Patented Jan. 28, 1930 EDWIN J. SCHOETTLE, OF PHILADELCPHIA, VIE'ENNSYLVANIA MAILING TUBE Application fiiea February 25,1926. serial-No. 90,581.

This nvention relates to improvements. in mailing tubes and one object of the inventlon lis to provide a tube having novel and improved means for preventing accidental dislodgment of the contents from the tube. Another 'object is to provide novel and advantageous means for facilitating removal of i the contents when this is desired.

Heretofore it hasbeen customary tomake the self sustaining or rigid type mailing tubey of hard, brittle card board and, where desired or necessary, to provide the ends of the v tube with 'fiexible paper extensions capable of being folded into the ends of the tube to i hold the contents in place. These paper exf f ftensions add materially to the cost of the tubes. I havediscovered that there is a ma- F terial advantage to be had in formng th1s ltype of tube ofL card board or other suitable V zainaterial which will stand bending and creasf ing without breaking, and I have provided a self sustaining tube that includes as an integral part thereof means for eifectively preventing accidental dislodgment ofv the con- 275 tents. The invention has resulted in a material saying in the manufacturing cost, and acorresponding reduction in the sale price g of'this article.

- In the attached drawings, in which I have 'illustrated several embodiments of my in- 'ventionl ig. 1 is a view in perspective of one end of a mailing tube; v

Fig. 2 is a view similar to F ig. l showing the tube in condition for mailing;

f Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of a tube end illustrating a modification;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a still furthermodification;

Fig' is a view in perspective illustrating the manner in which the tubes of Figs. 8 and -4 are deformed 'to insure retention of the contents;

' Figs. 6 and 7 are views in perspective illustrating a representative embodiment of that art of the invention relatino' to means forV facilitating removal of the contents ofV the V tube, and V Fig. 8 is a like perspective view illustrating further embodiments.

Ving means described above may take many Referring` to the drawings, 1 in each instance indicates a mailing tube, one end only of which is shown.v VThese tubes are made of card board or the like sufliciently heavy to make the tube selfsustaining as to form under ordinary conditions of use, yet sufficiently flexible to permit substantial deformation Without breaking. o

In the embodiment shown in Figs. l and 2, the tube comprises aty the end or ends a pair of integral extensions in the form of ears 2, 2,'fwhich normally extend as shown in Fig. lin alignment with the body of the tube, and which-,may be turned into the open end of the tube, as shown in Fig. y2, to obstruct the end and-thereby prevent dislodgment of the contents. Although the twoV ears shown are sufficient for the purpose, any number may be employed, and-there is nolimitation as to form. 4 i i -Wth the relatively fiexible and non-brittle material of which the tube is formed, I also have found it practicable to insure retention of the contents byV dentingthe ends of the tube inwardly so as to obstruct the opening. In this case it is preferable to score the tube along the lines of deformation, as shown at 3 in F ig. 3, or as in Fig. 4 to provide a scored line 4 to limit the extent of the indentation. The indentations normally take the form shown in Fig. 5 in which the indented parts are indicated by the reference numeral 5. In the illustration two of these indentatons are shown but there is no limitation as to their number.

I have further found it of advantage to provide the tubes with means aiding the removal of the contents. This like the retainforms, and a representative one of these I have illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. In this instance I have scored the tube along a line 6 extending longitudinally from the end edge 'of'the tube and the scoring is Vsufiiciently deep to readily permit rupture of the tube along the line thereof, thereby to expose the contents of the tube and render them easily accessible for withdrawal. In the form shown, the scored line at its inner end extends transversely or circumferentially of 106 the tube so that a substantal part of thecontents 7 is exposed when the flap 8 defined by the seored line is turned aside. Obvious-V ly the scorngs may take many forms, and instead of the soored line the tube may actually be dvided on a line at or near theV end of the tube as indicated at 9 and 10 in Fig. 8. In the latter cas'eithe slt 10 extends 'sufiiciently close to the-end of the tube to render it readily torn out to -the end.l WVhen so torn-out a flap is formed between "the slits 9 andflO which may be turned back to expose the contents. The slts 9 and `10,` however, need not thus be used together since either alone is adapted'for the ldes'ired end.

V I claim:

1. A rgid mailing tubeoomprising a portion at each extremty'thereof defined by a scored line which terminates at both ends in the end edges of the tube, said portions being adapted tov be pressed inwardly so as to obstruct the normally unobstructed ends of the tube.v

2. A mailing tube formed of relatively Stiff and flexblel material rendering the tube selfsustalnlng as to form under Vnormal condltions of use independent of the contents and capable of substantial deformation without rupture to obstructfthe normally unobstrueted ends, and meansat the `end o'fjthe tube de'- fining' deformable portions to Vobtain such obstruotion, said means'weakening the wall of the tube to faeilitate deformation of said portr'on's; V V o EDWIN J SCHOETTLE. 

